章 69: C69: Riddle Me This
"Calm down," I knew the gist of the situation. This year's exam had some bloodthirsty participants.
"B -But! There were people from the clans who died!" The man's legs buckled under him.
Wasn't he supposed to be the sketchy guy? Why was he panicking? Only exorcists who would have taken part in the exam got killed.
I looked at the paper that had appeared on top of my bed. It was here because of a special ability that only targeted the students. Everyone who slept through the night got one.
The paper didn't smell weird and wasn't made of Ord. Some kind of teleportation ability brought it here.
"Gem and Bets, since we are a team, we will leave first. Agon, Sei, Anika, good luck," after saying that, we went out of the room first.
The exam had already started.
Staying together might become even more dangerous, since Agon was a trouble magnet. I learned that the hard way on our last mission.
At the bottom of the paper was a riddle— 'Eight towers dance as one, gloating at the sky, while crying on the river.'
I ripped the note. "Bets, Gem, rip your papers."
Gem looked confused, but they both followed my words without question.
The time we spent apart hadn't ruined our synergy and trust. If we get our teamwork right, we might survive without losing a limb or two.
We walked into the town, and everyone talked about the latest news.
"Did you hear there were fourteen dead at the inn?"
"Some corpses of the deceased were missing."
"Was it some kind of civil war amongst Exorcists?"
"Tsk, exorcists slaughtering each other. Isn't their job to deal with monsters?!"
Bets looked perturbed by this, and he clenched his fists. In contrast, Gem didn't seem to care.
"Don't worry about what they say," I reassured them. "The riddle hints at where the next part of the exam will be at. If participants can't find it, then they fail the test."
"Have you deciphered the riddle already?" Bets glanced at me. He had an expectant look in his eyes.
No, I hadn't solved the riddle. But I already knew the answer.
Most people will look in or around the capital city. But the next part of the test will be in a nearby town. "Yes, follow me."
In case anyone was listening in, I decided not to mention anything out loud.
Agon and his team should be able to figure out this part of the exam. At least they didn't have a brawl with the flute guy last night. Otherwise, they would have suffered some injuries that lasted until the finals.
Since they were in better shape, they should do well… hopefully.
***
Agon looked at the letter. No matter how long he thought about it, he couldn't make heads or tails of it. But he still rubbed his chin and acted as if he was thinking. "Hmmm. Yes, yes, that makes sense."
"Good, you understand too. Then we will all act according to the plan," Anika nodded.
Wait, what? They had a plan?
Agon was confused and was about to ask Anika for some instructions, but she had a sharp and cold look in her eyes—the kind where she might strangle him to death if he said something stupid.
'Maybe I should have listened instead of acting like I understood something?!' During times like these, Agon wished he was with Kon and the others. Everything was easier with them. At least they were all friends and knew when to stop fighting amongst each other.
He followed Sei and Anika; they ran ahead of him. They were a troublesome pair. Unlike with Kon's team, this one didn't have a definite leader. Not even the conversation about leadership ever came up.
Sei assumed he was the leader because he was the strongest. But Anika never allowed herself to be the second best. It was always a clash of egos between those two.
As they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, Agon tried to ignore the surrounding carnage.
Why had exorcists attacked each other? What had happened?
He felt sorry for the people of the capital who now lived in fear—the weak always got hurt by the decisions of the strong.
"Shouldn't you be comforting these people?" Anika asked. At first, Agon thought she was addressing him, but her gaze had settled on Sei. The latter said nothing. But she wouldn't let such a thing go so easily. "After all, your family-"
"Shut up," Sei frowned. Agon saw him show a sliver of anger for the first time since they had met.
But Anika smirked; she smelled weakness like a shark. "Back in the day, there used to be an exorcist clan close to the royal family. There were marriages between the royals and that clan. They were essentially the same family; that's how the King could keep his power-"
"Hey, Anika," Sei stopped and turned toward her. "If you say one more word, I will kill you."
Her teasing smile didn't waver, but she put her hands up. "Sure, sure. I'm not cruel enough to say how your clan ended up. Everyone knows the answer. That's why you don't use your true name."
A mirror manifested in front of Sei, but Anika wasn't intimidated. Ord poured out of her body, forming small spheres that constantly changed shape.
Despite how the situation was about to develop, Anika didn't look like she would stop talking. "Nowadays, the Dark Sword Clan has taken that place. That's why they can open their shops in the capital, selling illegal curses, and no one bats an eye."
Kon's clan? Yeah, they were pretty sketchy. But the dude at the shop wasn't that bad. However, he looked like the kind of guy who would sell weird things. Well, he sells odd things, so his looks matched his job.
"Hey, can we stop fighting? Do this later, after the exam," Agon tried to defuse the situation.
"Don't worry. I will deal with this bastard in a second. I know his special ability, and he has no idea what mine is." Anika snorted.
No, this wasn't about who would win! They had to work together as a team, or they would all fail the exam!
"If you two don't stop fighting, I will get involved too." Agon clenched his fists. Ord burst out of him like tidal waves, shaking the building they were standing on. The tiles under his feet started cracking. "If you're going to act like this, then I will give up on the exam. It doesn't matter how talented you are! At the end of the day, you two will be known as nothing more than losers who failed the exam!"
Sei and Anika glanced at him and said nothing at first.
Anika sighed and reabsorbed the Ord back into her body. Sei followed along, letting his mirror dissipate into particles of light.
Then they all started running outside of the capital. Anika had already deciphered what the riddle was about. Probably Sei did too, but neither directly stated where they were going. Only Agon was left in the dark.
'As long as we aren't fighting, I don't mind being in the dark about the plan.' Agon had been in a similar situation with Kon's team. He had known nothing, but in the end everything ended up alright.
Once outside the capital, they ran on a grassy field. Agon sniffed the air to make sure no traps were around.
Their journey was interrupted when a figure standing in their way waved at them. Everyone on the team halted and released their Ord.
"Hey there, youngsters," the man looked to be in his thirties and had a stubble of a beard. "Seems like you figured out the gist of the exam. But intelligence needs to be accompanied by power if you want to become an Expert Exorcist."
He wore a dark cloak with a white jumpsuit and looked like one of those comic heroes. Seeing a full-grown man in a hero suit in real life was lame. But Agon wasn't the guy who would discourage someone's hobby.
"You look lame in that outfit," Anika, on the other hand, wasn't that sensitive. "I can see your beer belly about to poke out and rip up that spandex."
"Hahahaha!" Instead of feeling insulted, the exorcist seemed to take it well. "That's funny! Sorry, but I was at my kid's birthday party. With the whole massacre thing, I didn't have time to change outfits."
Anika was about to go with another insult but didn't get the chance, the exorcist leaped toward her at breakneck speeds.
Despite his silly looks, the man was fast!
He took out a sword, and Anika winced as the surrounding Ord formed into small balls of energy and blasted toward the attacker. His hand flashed, and he cut through all the blasts. "Too bad little girl, this is a Magic Weapon that can scatter Ord with a touch. It was specifically made so blasts wouldn't explode in my face as I cut them."
The man swung his sword at Anika without an ounce of hesitation.
Wasn't this supposed to be a test?! Why was he going for the kill?! Did he lie about his identity so they would drop their guard?
Agon felt the world around him slow to a halt.
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